Growing bamboo seedlings indoors / Lighting Question

[davidc304]

Greetings,

I have some F. Rufa + F Murielae seeds. Once i get past the germination stage, what amount of light should i give them over the winter? I am going to get them going inside b4 this coming summer.

This is more of an experiment than anything, ill probably end up giving most of them away to family and friends for house plants. Unless they really explode with growth, then i may just have a huge wall of clumpers on the east side of my property.


1. Can i give them 24/7 light? I know that with tomato plants, you can do this and get very good fast results, also with lots of other things as well.

2. How fast do clumpers really grow under ideal conditions?

[kenaibilly]

Greetings,

I have some F. Rufa + F Murielae seeds. Once i get past the germination stage, what amount of light should i give them over the winter? I am going to get them going inside b4 this coming summer.

This is more of an experiment than anything, ill probably end up giving most of them away to family and friends for house plants. Unless they really explode with growth, then i may just have a huge wall of clumpers on the east side of my property.


1. Can i give them 24/7 light? I know that with tomato plants, you can do this and get very good fast results, also with lots of other things as well.

2. How fast do clumpers really grow under ideal conditions?

Hi davidc304,

Bamboo can be easy to deal with IF we remember it is just an over-grown member of the 'grass' family. This gives us a good deal of help with your lighting questions.

1: Any plant grown under continuous bright light is going to suffer some degree of stress. Tomato plants can take up to 6 weeks of this treatment before beginning to show signs of discomfort. Grass on the other hand can and does grow under these same conditions here in Alaska for several months at a time. In the summer with our 23+ hours of daylight it's not unusual to have to mow the lawn every other day. When I say mow, I mean remove another 2 to 3 inches of growth. Left unattended a lawn can grow nearly a foot or more each week. I start my seeds and grow my Bamboo under lights in my garage with timers set to imitate our natural summer day length. I start with a minimum of 14 hours in January and increase the length by an hour each week until the plants are growing under 22 hours of light. In June I begin to reduce the light by 45 minutes a week until the plants are once again growing in 14 hours of light and repeat the same schedule again come January. Watch the heat and air circulation by using fans and fluorescent lights in your grow area.

2: Hey, most Bamboo 'ranchers' growing acres of 'boo would be hard pressed to answer this question because every ones 'ideal condition' is not going to be the best ideal 'boo habitat. I get over a foot in the first year from the majority of mine but they have to put up with a lot of less than ideal days and nights when the weather turns wet and cool. Most people would call my plants 'stressed' to a degree during the summer when they are out of doors. They make it all up during their vacation back inside, under the lights and are just looking like true 'boo again when early summer comes and they get kicked back outside again. Give them a good lawn fertilizer WITHOUT weed killer in it and they will do ok, just remember to fertilize WEAKLY, WEEKLY and don't drown them or let them dry out.

Have fun with your 'boo babies, Billy

[davidc304]

Hey kenaibilly,

thanks for the good info, glad someone replied finally :)

Well, i say "ideal" because, i can hopefully create an ideal growing condition while i have them in my controlled environment during seedling stages. I just want as much info as i can gather before i start germinating all of my seeds (50Rufa, 50Muriele,10 Pleioblastus humilis) so i dont kill them all :) I also of course, want to get the fastest growth possible during the winter, so i can possibly give some away and plant the rest outside.

From what i have read, i should expect less than 50% survival rate for all seedlings. But, i may get lucky. Thanks for the reply, seeya!